__________________________________________________________________________   7/20/10   Thanks to all of you that spent time taking my survey.  I'll post the results later this week.  I received so many written comments it'll take me a couple of days to read them all.  I realize I forgot a couple of interesting lenses to include, like the Sigma 50mm F/1.4 HSM, and new Sigma 85mm F/1.4 etc.   I now have a couple of new toys from B&H Photo.  I'll be doing a complete review of the two new lenses, and a comparison review between the e-mount 18-55mm and the (alpha mount) kit 18-55mm lenses.  I'm not going to do a regular review of the cameras, as there are very good reviews out there already.  However, I will be doing some comparisons with the NEX cameras and Sony A700, like ISO and resolution comps etc. just to see what the differences are.  I'm starting to work on that stuff right now, and should have a review page up in a few days.   __________________________________________________________________________   7/16/10  Take new survey, now closed!   This survey was closed by accident for a couple of hours right after I opened it, everything is ok now, and you can take the survey.    Since I'm pretty much out of lenses to review at the moment, I'm putting up a survey to see what lenses people are most interested in, and then maybe I'll review them.  The survey is only one multiple choice question, plus a comment box at the bottom in which you can write in something you want me to review, or maybe an article about a subject related to photography in general.    Click here to take survey   Done!  Please be sure to pick at least one box, but not more than three boxes, otherwise when you hit the done button you'll get that message at the top, and you won't be able to get out of the survey.  Thanks for taking the time to do this.  Hopefully, it'll help me spend my time more wisely, and make the site more useful.   __________________________________________________________________________   7/15/10   Check out the latest, and last Minolta lens review, at least the last Minolta lens I have on hand to review.  The Minolta AF 70-210mm F/3.5-4.5 turned in a so-so performance.  It really looks better at the long end than the much more popular Minolta AF 70-210mm F/4 beer can, but at the short end, things start to look awful as you move away from the centers of the image.  Out of focus background highlights are very smooth at the long end, even wide open, and look slightly better than the beercan.  If you plan on using this lens at full zoom, I would recommend it, (but don't pay very much), as it's reasonably sharp wide open in the centers, the image periphery is relatively sharp, and it has a smooth bokeh.   I used the stamp subject for this review because I didn't want to deal with massive heat shimmer, (prevalent this time of year in Tucson, AZ), which messes up the shots, especially at longer focal lengths.  Don't compare the other stamp crops, like the 200mm zoom shoot out with these, as they were taken at a different distance, with possible different exposure values.  Also, I used the A900 for the review, with the usual A700 macro shot.  If you want to know how the corners look on an APS-C camera, just look at the mid-level crops, they were taken at the approximate APS-C corners.  I'm trying to avoid using the A700 too much, as it's about worn out, and Sony doesn't have anything to replace it with yet.   The retail price of this lens was about $376.00 fifteen years ago, that's roughly $530 in today's money, so the lens was rather expensive back in the day, maybe more so than the beer can.  Although the price of this variable aperture zoom is pretty cheap on eBay now, I wouldn't buy it over the constant aperture beercan if you're in the market for a zoom lens with this range.   Click for review __________________________________________________________________________   7/9/10   The Sony NEX system is shipping now, but I don't see the NE-5 with the 16mm lens as being available in the US right now.  I've added a link above to B&H Photo for the camera and kits, and the link below that on the bottom right is to Sonystyle.com, so you can see what's available for the system, and the prices.   The image below is the top of a Mexican fencepost cactus, taken with the A900 and 100mm Sony macro lens.  You'll notice most of it isn't in focus, which is intentional, although I don't think I could've put everything in focus if I wanted to, even at F/32.  I converted it to B&W because I thought the original green color was a bit much, and the absence of color would accentuate the shapes a little more. What do ya think?   I'm working on the Minolta AF 70-210mm F/3.5-4.5 lens review right now.  It's looking pretty interesting, and will offer a few surprises.  I should have it ready in a week or two.   A900, Sony 100mm F/2.8 macro, ISO 200, F/8, 1/400sec. __________________________________________________________________________   7/6/10   Wow, check out the massive swarm of Ladybugs sitting relatively motionless on the bark of a tree in the mountains.  This is not the only tree filled with the bugs, there were a whole bunch of trees with this many, and hundreds with less than this.  The trunk of the tree below is about 6' (1.8m) from the top of the picture to the bottom.  I used the Panasonic FX100 for this shot.  The top part is not in focus because I was too close to that part of the tree, pointing the camera down.   This picture was taken a couple of months ago in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, around the 7000' level.   Lady bugs! __________________________________________________________________________   7/4/10   Happy Independence day folks.  Hopefully some of you will be able to vacation out west in the national parks this week, and this summer.  Although you may not have a choice, you should try to avoid Yosemite valley and the Grand Canyon south rim village this week unless you love traffic jams and hoards of people.   I forgot to include a homepage link to the Minolta AF 80-200mm F/4.5-5.6 shutter cap review, which I finished a few days ago, so here it is.  This lens is better than the 35-80mm, but neither one is worth buying if you have other, more modern zooms, like the kit lens or 55-200mm.    I mention in the conclusion that the 80-200mm might be good enough to use for emergency purposes if you can get it for next to nothing.  It's very small, so it wouldn't take up much room.  It also might be a good lens to take with you when you're doing a photo shoot in a place where you think you may be attacked or robbed---I had to take pictures of a house in a bad area of town (from the security of my car) one time for a domestic dispute case, and should have taken something like this lens, (I took my CZ 16-80mm and used it at 80mm).    I put the April homepage entries into the archives in case you're wondering what happened to an article or review.   Click for review __________________________________________________________________________   7/3/10   I've been regularly checking out Hobo Matt's website.  He's walking across America while pushing a baby carriage filled with all his daily needs, and a sign attached to the front saying "we may never meet again."  His website says he's doing it for no reason at all, much like Peter Jenkins did in the 1970s.  I read Jenkins' book, "A Walk across America" years ago when it first came out, then followed it up with William Least Heat-Moon's "Blue Highways."  Both are "must reads" if you have a predilection for travel, are easily bored with the daily grind, and don't really have any money, all pretty much my issues!    Read Martha Irvine's AP article about Matt's endeavor here.  This guy has all the high tech gadgets to post pictures to his website instantly, unfortunately, his camera phone produces horrible image quality.  I see a rather deep magenta halo around the periphery of every picture that has a large area of even tone, like the sky.  I hope he's only using his camera phone for the website picture posts, and has a real camera to properly record his travels.   The journeys mentioned above (and no doubt similar journeys across the world) should be on everyone's list of things to do at some point in their life, although I suppose if everyone did it, it wouldn't be special, and sitting at home for your entire life and never going anywhere would be considered exciting.   I slightly prefer Jenkins' chronicle over Moon's , but I greatly prefer Moon's method of travel, which is by Ford Econoline van.  I can sleep in the car, but I'm not real big on sleeping by the road in a tent, or getting people to let me come in their house to stay the night---too weird for me. __________________________________________________________________________   6/30/10   The image below shows the West, or back side of the wonderful El Tovar hotel at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on a late spring afternoon.  A slight vertical crop, and a little shadow adjustment on the porch area was all that was necessary in my opinion.  Equipment used; Sony A900 with the Sony CZ 24-70mm F/2.8, @45mm, F/8, 1/200s, -0.70ev, ISO 200.   I like the interesting use of different building materials here, like the dimensional lumber above the cut logs on the main hotel, (noticeable at left side of image).  Also note the different stone on the chimney and porch stem wall.  Anyone see the Blackbird?  Check out the weird chimney cap.   A900, Sony CZ 24-70mm @45mm, F/8, 1/200 sec, -0.70ev, ISO 200 __________________________________________________________________________   6/21/10   Check out the long awaited, and highly anticipated Minolta AF 35-80mm F/4-5.6 shutter cap review.  The good news is; it's small and light-weight; the bad news; well, maybe you should just check out the review, it's a good way to waste ten minutes, especially if you're bored at work and want a good laugh.    The little 35-80mm was a gimmick lens (and of dubious value) that Minolta tried to market in the late eighties.  Instead of using quality optics to help generate sales, they opted for a unique sliding shutter-type front lens protector, similar in operation to the Starship Enterprise doors.  The marketing pitch was probably something like "you'll never lose the lens cap" etc.  It would also make a good conversation piece, if you like conversation.  I spent many grueling hours exploring every aspect of this lens, and for my efforts; it produced the worst images I've ever seen from a SLR type lens.  You may say "you probably got a bad copy" or whatever, but I've had a couple of readers tell me their copy is awful too!    If you want to know what the image looks like when using the maximum aperture, plop a Cokin "Dreams" filter on any one of your decent lenses and you'll get the idea.       I used the A900 for this review, (except for the usual A700 macro shot) simply because I didn't want to waste my time providing too much information, and I was just plain lazy.  It's hard to get excited about a lens that produces such a veiled mess that you can actually see it by looking through the viewfinder!     This lens gets my official, (and first) "worthless" rating.  The old Sony/KM 18-70mm kit lens would put this shutter cap lens to shame.   Both shutter cap lenses are pictured below, but only the left one is being reviewed now.  I took the product shots together, that way I can save time when getting the Minolta AF 80-200mm shutter cap review ready.   Click for review __________________________________________________________________________   6/16/10   Sale ends on select Sony lenses (and cameras) June 19th.  For some reason, the Sony website has some of the lenses listed for less than B&H Photo.  If you want to get a Sony lens or camera from B&H, tell them to give it to you for the same price as Sonystyle.com and they'll probably do it.  They may have the prices mixed up too, they've done that before.  I have a feeling Sony may be getting ready for an across-the-board DSLR and accessories price increase, that's my opinion based on past sales events.  I have reviews of all lenses listed below, go here for the full list.   Below are lenses currently on sale. Sale is over.     100mm F/2.8 Macro   DT 11-18mm F/4.5-5.6   135mm STF   DT 16-105mm F/3.5-5.6   CZ 16-35mm F/2.8   DT CZ 16-80mm F/3.5-4.5   28-75mm F/2.8   300mm F/2.8 SSM G   DT 50mm F/1.8 SAM   DT 30mm F/2.8 macro   70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 G   DT 55-200mm SAM   70-400mm SSM G   CZ 85mm F/1.4   __________________________________________________________________________   6/14/10   Check out the comparison between the Sony Carl Zeiss 24-70mm (at 50mm) and the Sony 50mm F/1.4.  This is the last comp with the CZ zoom and the primes.   The Sony 50mm F/1.4 is definitely superior to the CZ zoom at 50mm, but I don't think that should keep you from unloading your primes and using the CZ 24-70mm exclusively as a landscape lens, at least in my opinion.  The CZ zoom is pretty sharp and compares well with the prime when stopped down to F/8.   Click for comparison page __________________________________________________________________________   6/10/10   Sony surreptitiously unveils a couple of updated entry-level cameras.  The basic differences from each other: the A390 has live view and a tilting screen, and costs $100 more.  Both are now 14.2mp.  Release date set for July.    I'm still scratching my head and wondering when Sony is going to come out with the A700 replacement.  I'm reading over my Canon and Nikon camera brochures right now and can't help but think I'll have to bail on Sony for my business related photography, which requires some pro features, but most of the time not 24mp.  My nearly three year old A700 has been worn out for about a year now, the control wheels are almost useless, and the AF system is not right.  Of course I could use my A900, but why should I burn through one of those every year or two when I don't have too?   Top is A290, bottom, A390 __________________________________________________________________________   6/8/10   The image below was taken with the Sony 300mm F/2.8 G SSM, F/11, 1/200s, +0.70ev, ISO 200.  The subject is a quite large Agave plant underneath a tree with shifting light.  I like the oddly embossed leaves and dark background.  Fully enlarged it looks sharp with nice contrast, but I shot this exact same scene with a cheap Minolta lens and there wasn't too much difference. I made some minor lighting adjustments, and that's it.   Fortunately, you don't need a $6000 lens to shoot an interesting scene at F/11.  In fact, the Sony 70-400mm would produce a nearly identical image at F/11, and you'd save about $4500.  BTW, I took this shot when I was reviewing the Sony 300mm lens, I don't own it.   A900, Sony 300mm SSM G, F/11, 1/200 sec, +0.70ev, ISO 200 __________________________________________________________________________   6/6/10   Check out the next comparison, this time with the Sony Carl Zeiss 24-70mm at 35mm, and the restyled version of the Minolta AF 35mm F/2.  The CZ 24-70mm compares very well with the older, but very good Minolta 35mm prime lens.  So far, the CZ zoom has definitely held its own in most prime comparisons.  I have one left, the Sony 50mm F/1.4, so let's hope the 24-70mm is at least close in comparison, then we can dump the primes and use the zoom exclusively.  Unfortunately, the trade-off is having to use a big heavy lens, oh well.     The two lenses look about the same in the centers, with minor variations at the ends.  The mid areas, (approximate APS-C corner areas) are sharper at wider apertures with the Sony CZ zoom, that's a surprise.  The extreme corners are sharper with the Minolta AF 35mm at almost all apertures.  Distortion is less with the CZ zoom.  Ghosting is better controlled with the Minolta prime at smaller apertures.      Click for comparison page __________________________________________________________________________   6/5/10   This image was taken at Windy Point, about half way up the Mt Lemmon hwy.  That's Thimble peak in the lower right, and the camera looks west over the city of Tucson.  The mountains in the middle (Tucson) are about 25 miles (40km) away, and the last range (Quinlan) is over 50 miles (80km).    I used the Sony A900 and Sony 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 G lens, but I think I could've used the KM 5D with the cheap 75-300mm lens and it would've looked the same.  The level of detail from objects 25 miles away through haze and heat shimmer is low, so this image would probably look just as sharp using a 6mp DSLR, and a cheap telephoto zoom.    I jacked the colors a little, but that's about it as far as alterations.  Shutter speed was 1/3s, ISO 200, F/8 @300mm.   A900, Sony 70-300mm @300mm, F/8, 1/3 sec, ISO 200 __________________________________________________________________________   6/2/10   Here's another random picture as I wait on the Sony NEX stuff to review, and some more prime comps with the Sony 24-70mm.    The image below was taken with the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 @35mm, F/32 at ISO 100.  I used F/32 to slow the shutter speed (1/15s) and smooth out the waterfall.  I forgot my ND filter, so I had no choice.  The original image actually looks pretty good, even at 100%, and is probably as sharp as a typical fixed lens camera shot.  This image was tweaked with some minor highlight and shadow adjustments, and straightened.   This watery wonderland is the Sabino Canyon Dam, and is only about a thirty minute drive from downtown Tucson, AZ.   The Dam used to support a good sized lake for fishing (where the trees are), but now it has long silted in, and is almost dry during the hottest and driest part of the year.   A900, Tamron 28-75mm @35mm, F/32, 1/15 sec, ISO 100 __________________________________________________________________________   5/30/10   This is a shot of the lobby looking towards the dining room at the Grand Canyon lodge, north rim.  It's not the best as there were too many people and objects in my way to get the shot I really wanted.  I used the A900 with the Sony CZ 16-35mm F/2.8 @16mm.    I see a small green ghost just above the guests heads sitting on the couch in the lower right.  If I would've used the A700 and Sigma 10-20mm lens, which has superior ghosting control, the green ghost probably would be much smaller, or not visible at all.  Unfortunately, that lens is a stop slower at the widest end, and would have forced me to use ISO 1600, a bit much for the A700's noise reduction system.  Here I needed 1/6s, F/2.8, +1.3ev, AWB and ISO 800.  I took about three shots at that speed, and all three came out sharp.  Auto-focusing was spot on, although not a big concern at 16mm.   There are some minor levels adjustments and straightening done (I can't hold the camera level).  Color is as shot.   A900, CZ 16-35mm @16mm, F/2.8, 1/6 sec, +1.3ev, ISO 800 __________________________________________________________________________   5/24/10   Check out the next comparison, this time with the Sony Carl Zeiss 24-70mm and the Sony 28mm F/2.8 at 28mm (of course).   The Sony CZ zoom looks sharper in the centers at wide apertures.  The mid areas, (or approximately the APS-C corner areas) are easily sharper at all apertures with the Sony CZ zoom.  The extreme corners are sharper with the Sony 28mm from F/2.8-5.6.  Distortion is less with the CZ zoom.  Ghosting is much better controlled with the Sony 28mm at all apertures.      Click for comparison page __________________________________________________________________________   5/17/10   I've got a good jump on the Sony CZ 24-70mm F/2.8 and prime comparison comps that I promised last year---whoops.  Well, work keeps getting in the way of my free time.  I'm going to compare the Minolta AF 24mm F/2.8, Sony 28mm F/2.8, Minolta 35mm F/2, and Sony 50mm F/1.4 with the CZ zoom.  This time we start off with the Minolta AF 24mm F/2.8 lens.  As was the case with the CZ 16-35mm, the little 24mm prime is showing its age when comparing it to a new expensive zoom, but looks pretty good at F/8.   In a nut-shell, the Sony 24-70mm CZ zoom looks marginally sharper in the centers at all focal lengths, although the Minolta AF 24mm F/8 crops are very similar.  The mid areas, (or approximately the APS-C corner areas) are easily sharper at larger apertures with the Sony CZ zoom, and are only slightly sharper stopped down.  The extreme corners are sharper with the Minolta from F/5.6-11.  Distortion is basically the same.  Ghosting is much better controlled with the Minolta at smaller apertures.      Click for comparison page __________________________________________________________________________   5/12/10   Eh, better late than never right!  I work during the day (mostly) so I can't update stuff 'til the evening.  Sony pulls the cloth off their newest camera system, calling it NEX, with a new mount, this time an "E" to go along with the "A."  The next one will have to be an "I" am I correct?  As I gaze at the pretty pictures, and specs, I'm thinking this may be a really good alternative to the "to big for comfort" current DSLR systems.   The reviews are pretty good, and it seems Sony may finally have a better noise reduction process than past models.  Go here for a good ISO comp.   Weird, but the lenses don't seem all that small, in fact, the 18-200mm specs indicate it's larger than the current "A" mount lens.  The "E" mount kit 18-55mm is slightly smaller than the current kit lens.   I'll have a review of the NEX-5 when it becomes available, along with most of the accessories below.  It's supposed to be released in July.   Comes with small, add-on flash.    Not shown is a small black body cover.   I see an add-on, 5 element glass optical viewfinder, cost not available yet.   Stereo mic with wind screen.   16mm F/2.8 pancake lens, equivalent to 24mm, costs $250 separately.   Fisheye lens attachment, 4 element (0.62x) for 16mm above, equaling 15mm.  No price yet but I'll bet it's $150-$200.   Wide angle attachment (0.75x) for 16mm above, for an equivalent of 18mm wide, probably will cost about the same as above.   Kit lens 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6, about the same size as the current "A" kit lens.  Costs $300 if purchased separately.   Zoom 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 actually larger(!) than the current "A" mount lens, costs about $800 coming in the fall.   Lens adapter for "A" mount.  Will not support AF with either screw drive or SAM/SSM.  Has tripod mount on bottom.     Sony NEX with accessories, items not to scale __________________________________________________________________________   5/10/10   Gila woodpecker flying out of nest in Saguaro cactus.  This image was taken with the Sony 70-400mm @400mm F/5.6.  Obviously, I could've used more focal length here to make this a decent shot, but I'm not posting this image because of the overall image quality, I'm attempting to draw your attention to the background on either side of the cactus.  If people just saw the left side of the image, some might conclude the background blur or Bokeh of this lens is "super smooth," or "creamy" or some such term.  In fact, when I speak of background blur, I'm talking about the character of out-of-focus highlights, not simply how out-of-focus the background is.  On the right side of this image, (closer than the left side) we see some not so smooth out-of-focus highlights, the result of light showing through tree leaves just behind the cactus.  The left side is simply rendered smooth by being way out-of-focus.  There is a difference.  Go here to find out more.     I've put February and March homepage entries into the home page archives.  If you saw something you liked in those months, or other months, you'll find it in the archives.   Taken with Sony 70-400mm @400mm F/5.6 __________________________________________________________________________   5/6/10   Original or restyled?  Ever wonder what the differences are between the original Minolta prime lenses, and the restyled (new) versions?  Me too.  Well, I was able to compare both versions of the 35mm F/2 and posted this quick comparison page.    If you don't have time to view the page, I'll sum it up here.  The new version gets a circular aperture, updated lens coatings, and a wider focus ring.  I believe the 28mm F/2 was updated the same way, and probably the 50mm F/1.4, 20mm F/2.8 and 24mm F/2.8 also, maybe more, I'm not sure.  I'm assuming the new or "restyled" Minolta versions are the same as the Sony versions, like the Sony 20mm F/2.8.   The only noticeable differences are; when the sun is in the shot, the updated coatings are better at controlling ghosting, but only when the aperture is stopped down some.  The bokeh quality is the same, but instead of heptagons, you get circles between F/2.8-4---F/2 looks the same, as well as F/5.6 and smaller.   Just for fun I did a center and corner crop comp between the lenses, and they came out nearly identical, which is a little surprising, maybe Minolta/Sony quality control is better than one might imagine.   Minolta AF 35mm F/2 restyled, and Minolta AF F/2 original version